Dallas, Texas

"I don't know where they think they're going but it's wrong, unless they want to jump the fence…" pointing toward his brother and cousin as their horses wandered without clear direction ahead, Bobby spoke, breaking the silence he and Sue Ellen had fallen into after Sue Ellen had challenged him to reconsider his relationship with Pamela. He didn't have a clear answer yet about what Pamela was to him; was she just someone he'd liked but he could never build a life with, or was she special enough that she was worth pursuing despite their differences and the inevitable challenges they would face? He wasn't sure, he'd only known her for a very short period and it still seemed far too early to even consider her anything more than a girl he'd dated once, though the way he felt when he thought about her didn't necessarily reflect that rational thought. To add to his uncertainty about the situation was his self-awareness, he wasn't clueless enough to believe his opinion was the only one that mattered, Pamela's feelings and opinions had to be considered too, and right now her opinion of him wasn't great. She had walked out on him, not the other way around, so even if he decided he wanted to try again with her, setting their family differences aside, there was no guarantee she would even want to try dating him again. With all that in mind, he was torn; on one hand, he wanted to pursue her, because he did like her, on the other hand though, he could see potential problems coming at them from every angle if they did ever date, so perhaps it was best to just leave the situation alone and move on.

"I'm sure JR could jump the fence if he wanted to, he's not a bad rider, he's just not all that engaged in riding…" Breaking out of his brief period of thoughts regarding Pamela, Bobby focused again on JR and Jack ahead of him and Sue Ellen, "that's an understatement…" muttering a response under his breath, he stopped himself from going further when he took note of the way Sue Ellen was looking at him. Most of the time his sister-in-law was a nice person, far nicer than his brother was, to the point where it was a mystery at times why exactly she loved him so much and had such a different opinion of him to other people, however, she wasn't all sugar and spice. At times like this, where her smile dropped and was replaced by a glare, and her demeanour turned from helpful and happy to irritated and upset, he began to understand her more and he was smart enough to stop before he pushed too far. Sue Ellen had a glare that could freeze fire, likely the unintended result of her upbringing in which a huge amount of importance was put on remaining verbally polite; she had changed a lot over the past few years, becoming more comfortable with verbally communicating her feelings, but still, her most powerful method of communication was non-verbal. She wasn't silent about her feelings though and in the situation they were in together at present, there was nothing stopping her from saying something in response to his muttered comment, which she did.

"Bobby please, don't make it difficult for me to defend you", although she said very little, he knew what she was getting at. JR was a complainer, he was known to make disparaging remarks about people or things he disliked, and if he really wanted something or someone gone, he didn't hesitate to put a plan in place to make that happen. Sue Ellen wasn't magic, she wasn't able to snap her fingers and change who JR was, nobody could do that, probably not even JR, he was who he was, however, Sue Ellen did have some influence over him, especially in recent times. Leaving him after finding out about his infidelity had been difficult, but it had taught JR that he couldn't just do whatever he wished and expect things to remain the same at home, Sue Ellen wasn't going to turn a blind eye to what was happening, nor was she content to remain silent about their issues. Being in marriage counselling together had really had an impact on their marriage too, even he could see that; JR wasn't the type to talk about his feelings, unless they were negative, but somehow he'd managed to push past that objection and actually use the service to his benefit.

JR and Sue Ellen's marriage seemed more balanced now than it had been in the past, though Bobby also understood what Sue Ellen meant when she commented about him making it difficult for her to defend him. JR was a much better husband now than he had been in the past, but that personal development didn't necessarily extend to other areas of his life. He knew it from personal experience, JR had been nicer to him since he'd announced his plans to move into ranching fulltime, however the situation with Jack had really highlighted his resistance to anyone encroaching on what he deemed to be 'his', whether it be 'his' company, or 'his' father, he didn't like to share and he made it known. Sue Ellen tried her best to reduce JR's reactions and instigations of conflict where she could but even she wasn't able to control JR when he fixated on something, so to him it made sense that she would also try to control things from the opposite side.

"I'll keep my mouth shut unless he says something first. It would help if JR lightened up a little though, do you think you can get him to do that? We'd all have a whole lot less to worry about and might actually be able to enjoy each other's company if there wasn't so much tension. I don't think Jack's here to steal anything JR owns, so I don't think he has anything to worry about, but by making his disdain known he's damaging whatever good could come out of Jack being here. What I mean is, it looks to me that Jack is no better at guiding his horse than JR is, but I'd put money on it that JR hasn't even noticed and hasn't tried to use their common ground situation as a conversation starter; he's missing opportunities to bond and focusing instead on their differences. Now, I don't know that for sure, because I can't hear their conversation, but I won't be surprised if they're bickering when we ride up behind them". Responding to Sue Ellen's earlier comment, he expanded on his perspective of the situation, and when Sue Ellen didn't reply with words and looked straight ahead, as if to try and assess the situation further, he knew she understood his point and probably agreed with him.

"Bobby, I'm not sure about Jack myself to be honest, and I see JR's point, he has had to fight extremely hard to get everything in his life to where it is now and having someone like Jack inserting himself into the family and trying to insert himself into the company is offensive. With that being said, I also see your point, they aren't polar opposites and in different circumstances they might even find something to bond over. I'm not sure any of that matters at present though, it looks like at the speed they're going their horses aren't even going to want to jump the fence, they're wandering, the horses are leading them, not the other way around. I don't think they have the control or momentum going to make it over into the next pasture without using the gate, and I hate to say it, but if you're right and they're already bickering, getting stuck isn't going to help their relationship, with each other or with their horses". Making eye contact with her as she spoke, Bobby knew Sue Ellen's words came from a place of genuine love and concern, her husband and family mattered greatly to her, but so did the animals, and she didn't want to see anyone hurt.

"Let's go then", waving his hand in the direction of his brother and cousin as he spoke to Sue Ellen, he waited for her to nod before clicking his tongue, changing position and taking off toward the fence line. "I'd say you take Jack, because I think you need to get to know him, but if JR's in one of his moods then I'm sure I'm the last person he wants to be with right now. So, you help JR, I'll help Jack, and hopefully we all make it through the rest of the day without coming to serious harm", speaking a bit louder as they were now making more noise as they rode faster, he knew she had heard him and he had lightened the mood a bit when she laughed lightly. "You probably have a point, deal", responding briefly, she then raised an eyebrow and changed the mood of the conversation, saying "come on, I'll race you" before taking off ahead of him, sparking his competitive nature and distracting him from more serious thoughts.

To be continued…